Mister Topside
by NorthernHarrier
Summary: -Alternate Universe based on Bio2 DX 07 08 09-ALL STREAM 76 - Incarcerated in Persephone, the man who was known as Johnny Topside is visited by Rapture's foremost psychiatrist, Sofia Lamb.
1. A Proposition

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Yep, I know about the removed audio from the game. I was just thinking about what it could be like if they actually pulled through with it. (That said, this is still alternate universe because the official canon is that Delta is **not **Eleanor's biological father.

For those who don't know, the file is **Bio2_DX_07_08_09-ALL_STREAM(76)**. Google it. It's awesome. :D

* * *

"I have a proposition, mister Topside." Sofia Lamb's prim voice cut through the observation glass. "If you accept, you shall be transferred to minimum security, able to move around as you please."

"… I was getting tired of walking around in a straitjacket." I said with a wry smile. "What do you want from me?"

"Your genetic material." She said flatly.

"… My _what_?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I would like to have an heir to my life's work, mister Topside." She began impatiently, as if my ignorance insulted her. "And you are the most viable candidate."

"Wait… You want me to father your child?" I asked incredulously.

"The heir will not need a father." She stated, folding her hands across her lap. I was beginning to feel sorry for the kid; it wasn't even born yet and already- "The heir will have a mother, and that is certainly enough."

"So once I… do it…." I continued. "I won't be needed?"

"Fathers are certainly not part of the biological equation, mister Topside." She adjusted her glasses and pulled back a lock of blonde hair. "You simply… do your business and then that is it. You are free to prance around in minimum security afterwards if you wish."

"…. Right." I briefly mourned the fact that I actually wanted to trade my freedom in exchange for the kid's misery of being stuck with that overbearing woman for at least twenty years. "When do we…?"

"I shall need your genetic material tomorrow." She gave a satisfied smile as she passed on a weird looking container to the waiting officer. "Place your semen in there and then I shall put in a good word with the warden to place you in minimum security."

"Wait-" I asked, alarmed. "We're not even going to-"

"I would not even dream of it." Sofia Lamb stated with a hint of disgust. "Such barbarism, such loss of control… no, mister Topside, the world of Rapture is a world of science."

I shook my head at her as I took the container from the officer. I inspected it from top to bottom. It was plain enough; the writing on the cover bore my name in neat, capital letters.

"Well, since I'm going to be discarded-" I tried to keep my good humor. "Why me, out of all the people here?"

"Your genes are intact, mister Topside, and that is enough." She replied. Well, at least she was answering me clearly. "Most of the men here have indulged in splicing, and that destroys viable genes. I need someone without a mark on their genetic code."

I gave a nod to show that I understood. She seemed satisfied with this, and she was in the process of standing up, when something occurred to me. "… miss Lamb?" I asked hesitantly.

The doctor turned to glance at me. "Yes, mister Topside?"

"… when the child is born…" I mumbled out. "Can I have a photograph? Preferably, one every year?"

"Sentimentality, mister Topside?" She asked with a curious eyebrow raised. "I didn't think you to be that kind of man."

I thought of the family I left behind on the surface. What would they think of me now? I didn't pay as much attention to them as I should have, preferring to focus on my job as a deep sea diver. Now that I was stuck here in Persephone, I had all the time in the world to think about what I had lost.

"… I just want proof." I replied.

"Like all men." She commented. "Wanting to make their mark on the world."

"Please?" I asked humbly. "I… I'm alright with not seeing the child. I just want to know that I did something… something worthwhile."

"… Of course, mister Topside."


	2. Mail For Subject Delta

"Mail for Subject Delta." The voice broke through my musings. I pulled the ornate mask off my face, exposing my scarred features to the people behind the stage of the Plasmid Theater. I could barely even look at myself in the mirror now. My brown hair had long ago fallen off my head; my once blue eyes were giving off an eerie yellow glow.

The current plasmid regimen I was on was currently sloughing off what skin was left to me. Fontaine's doctors just bandaged me up to make me look presentable. That and the mask were merely measures to comfort the people outside the tall glass walls.

"Here." I wheezed out, raising my scarred palm. The Insect Swarm plasmid was giving me an uncomfortable feeling inside. I ought to tell those eggheads before someone outside those walls sprouts bees from their noses.

"From Sofia Lamb." The courier stated as he handed me a simple envelope. He averted his eyes from my horrible face as he left as fast as he could.

"May I go into the back?" I asked my watcher. The burly man glanced at the stage supervisor before he gave me a short nod of the head. I pulled my tired body from the bench and then gently pushed my way through the throng of stage technicians.

I was now alone in the comfort of the small dressing room that Fontaine Futuristics provided for me. "Stupid gene tonics." I muttered to myself as I struggled to pull the photograph from the envelope. "Ah, there we go-" I held it in front of my eyes, as my neck was sore from the Armored Shell plasmid. "Hello, Eleanor." I greeted.

True to her word, Sofia Lamb had sent him photographs of little Eleanor every year. Now on her fifth year, she was growing fast. Her brown hair was kept in cute little pigtails while her blue eyes smiled at the camera. Beside her, Sofia Lamb's disapproving face looked on.

"Cute." I muttered to myself with a grin despite the pain it caused me. "Growing well, too."

I glanced over my shoulder before I cleared my throat, my voice lowering to a secretive whisper. "Are you a good girl, Eleanor?" I asked the photograph. "Do you eat well? Are you watching out for yourself?"

"Five minutes." My watcher said irritably as he knocked on the door of my room.

"Yeah, yeah." I said wryly. "I know your mother isn't as good as you think she is… I named you after my little sister for a reason, so you have to be spunky when push comes to shove, alright?"I continued.

"Delta, two minutes." My watcher continued.

"I'm coming." I muttered as I took out a simple wallet from my pocket. In it were the other four photographs I had of little Eleanor: as a baby swimming in her little tub, as a toddler eating the ear of a teddy bear-

I paused. Talking hurt my mouth. "… take care of yourself."I said as I tucked in the newest photograph into my wallet. "… Daddy loves you, wherever you are."

The door opened. My watcher didn't look pleased. "Come on." He said as he offered me my mask. I took it and then slipped it over my head. "It's show time."

"Ladies and Gentlemen-" The announcer went on as I headed towards the spotlight. "Presenting~"


	3. Pairbond

"Modifications complete." The calm voice broke through my drug-induced haze. "We are ready for the preliminary examinations, doctor."

_Why do I feel so… blank and empty?_

"What number are we on? Three?"The surgeon asked his assistant.

"Four."The nurse stated calmly, handing the surgeon a stamp. "Number three is dead."

_Dead? From what?_

"…Delta then." The surgeon declared, pressing the stamp over my palm. "Not much of a difference from what his name was before, I suppose. Let's start with the basics."

I glanced down in confusion at the large white triangle on my left hand.

… _Basics? Before?_

"Initiating test sequence." I heard multiple switches to my right. "Go on, doctor."

"What is your name?" The surgeon asked me, his face partially hidden by the bright light of the numerous monitors above his head.

… **I DON'T KNOW.** I said, but I only heard the disjointed rumblings of a whale emerge from my throat.

_What happened to my voice? More over… why did it feel as if half the skin off my face had been ripped off?_

"Voice box modification is a success." The surgeon noted. He turned back to face me, something held in his hand. It was a tube that smelled strangely sweet.

"Can you open and close your fist for me?" He asked politely, pointing the tube at me.

Something in me compelled me to follow. My hand… it felt alien, numb and absolutely gigantic as it moved to comply.

_What did you do to me…?_

"Pheromone compelled obedience, check."The surgeon put the tube away. "Gene tonics seem to be holding well too."

I tried to move my head, but it seemed like I was bolted or buckled to something.

_A table? I was on an operating table? _

My breath sounded harsh and animal like to my own ears as the people buzzed around me.

"Is everything in place?"

"Secondary oxygen supply, check." A voice said behind me. I recoiled immediately as I felt cold fingers probe the back of my neck. "EVE reserves, check."

"Healing gel?"The chief surgeon asked. The person behind me must've nodded.

"Alright, ladies." Another nurse came to assist, holding a massive steel thing with a single porthole up and over my head. "Place the helmet."

_God, oh god- the walls were closing in-_

"Heart rate is up."Someone noted as I heard rivets clicking into place. Another man pressurized the helmet. "He's panicking."

"Sedatives." The chief surgeon immediately commanded as the anesthesiologist scrambled to press on a hanging plastic bag. I felt something cold rush through my veins, burying my temper beneath layers and layers of frost.

**NO…** I stammered. **NO-!**

"Keep him calm and docile, people. We're almost done." The man turned to look at me, titling his head like I was a smashed up puzzle that needed to be put back together. "Did we do everything on the list?"

"Hold on-" I saw the nurse turn to consult some papers. "… yes, doctor. We need only introduce the Gatherer candidate."

… _Candidate?_

"Alright then. Bring her in."

I grunted and groaned on the table as they pressed a button. Hidden hydraulics went into action as my table pulled me to a near-standing position, my arms held outwards by straps and buckles.

I spotted a brown haired girl, her eyes glowing with ADAM, go near me. The surgeons and nurses seemed to be very expectant, watching on with a cautious eye as they pressed on several buttons and pulled on a multitude of switches.

The little girl looked up at me and gave a wide, wide smile that pulled at something. Something in my memory…

… _why… why do I feel like I know you?_

"Hello, daddy!" She said brightly.

_Your face… your smile-_

My thoughts were cut short as I felt white hot fire course through my veins.

**IT HURTS, OH GOD IT HURTS-**

"Lot 642 injected." Someone announced.

I gasped, my whale voice becoming labored and heavy. My heart felt as if it was dying. The pain was so intense my mind nearly snapped itself into pieces.

Suddenly, my heart stopped. I heard high pitched beeping from the heart monitor, but everything sounded so far away-

"Daddy?" Her voice. Her angelic voice… I felt revived.

My lifeblood pulsed within me once more as my heart forced itself to beat in time with hers.

"… the pair bond has been established." Someone said reverently as I pulled my symbol-bearing hand free from the table and reached out towards the little girl.

"Yaaay, daddy!" She squeaked in delight as she clasped my finger.

… **MY HEART, MY SOUL. MY DAUGHTER.**


End file.
